Radiator initial Flush foam?

Marky Mark · 14 Aug 2020 at 07:40

So I've 2 EK Coolstream 360 PE radiators. I used as recommended on the EK Water Blocks site to use 5% vingar (white malt) and mayhems h20 (1litre water, 50ml vingar) distilled water for the flush with a fish tank pump, jug, sive and coffee filter and left it running for 8 hours.

This morning when I came to change the vingar water for normal distilled water the coffee filter was half full of clear/whitish foam with the radiator gunk. Is this normal or have I made a mistake somewhere? They are about to go into a £4000 system so want to make sure I've not got a dodgy radiator.

Too Tall · 14 Aug 2020 at 08:11

High pump speed can cause this, try running the pump at a lower speed for the flush.

Marky Mark · 14 Aug 2020 at 11:50

Ah yeah it's just a preparation flush before install so the cheap fish tank pump only has one speed. Should I put less water in jug as its a motorised pump for water/air? If it has some air let into it would the speed and foam be a lot less?

clone · 15 Aug 2020 at 08:41

After I flushed my rads I hooked up a loop with a filter in it for a while to catch any crap that may be left in them and found nothing,best investment ever.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/xspc-inline-filter-chrome-wc-46h-xs.html

LePhuronn · 19 Aug 2020 at 12:32

If you're dropping 4 grand on kit, why did you cheap out with vinegar? Get a Mayhems Blitz kit and do it properly, my good man!

Marky Mark · 19 Aug 2020 at 13:01

LePhuronn said:
If you're dropping 4 grand on kit, why did you cheap out with vinegar? Get a Mayhems Blitz kit and do it properly, my good man!

Ah I didn't know it would work. Everything I read online said the vingar breaks down the flux and other manufacturing debris without damaging the radiator.

I was under the impression that the flush kits was for cleaning already installed systems?

LePhuronn · 19 Aug 2020 at 13:31

Blitz part 1 is purley for cleaning the radiators. It's phosphoric acid essentially so will strip all the crud out. Good on old radiators too if they've been sat for a while or had some staining dyes in them. Blitz part 2 is the ph stabiliser so swirl some of that inside a rad after part 1 as part of your flushing, and also for cleaning a pre-built loop.

clone · 19 Aug 2020 at 13:41

Been using vinegar for over 20 years never let me down.

LePhuronn · 19 Aug 2020 at 13:54

clone said:
Been using vinegar for over 20 years never let me down.

But if you're dropping 4 grand on a system, what's another £25 for a Blitz kit

Always makes me chuckle when people drop loads on water cooling but then skimp on the coolant and cleaning. I'm guilty of that right now

clone · 19 Aug 2020 at 14:08

Im scottish so hehehe

Marky Mark · 19 Aug 2020 at 14:10

LePhuronn said:
But if you're dropping 4 grand on a system, what's another £25 for a Blitz kit Always makes me chuckle when people drop loads on water cooling but then skimp on the coolant and cleaning. I'm guilty of that right now

So true, got the Ek Cloudy CryoFuel and XSPC UV purple dye plus 10l of distilled water and a flush kit for in 6months time. I will double check if its a 1st or 2nd. I take it if its a first and I used to clean the loop it would damage it? It's my first water cooled PC so totally new to me.

In my usual crazy style gone for PETG and trying to fit 2x Ek Coolstream PE 360 rads and 10 EK Vardar 120er D-RGB fans into a Phanteks P500A

LePhuronn · 19 Aug 2020 at 14:16

Flush kits won't damage anything if they're used as intended. For instance Blitz part 1 is purely for cleaning brass and copper radiators. Put it near anything else and sadness will ensue. I don't think Blitz part 2 plays nicely with aluminium parts either.

So check the instructions for your flush kit and see what you need to do. If you prep your loop properly now then you won't need a flush in 6 months

LePhuronn · 19 Aug 2020 at 14:17

clone said:
Im scottish so hehehe

Then all is forgiven, it's not your fault being a skinflint is genetic

powerless · 19 Aug 2020 at 14:48

clone said:
Been using vinegar for over 20 years never let me down.

What about on your chips?

Marky Mark · 19 Aug 2020 at 15:55

LePhuronn said:
Flush kits won't damage anything if they're used as intended. For instance Blitz part 1 is purely for cleaning brass and copper radiators. Put it near anything else and sadness will ensue. I don't think Blitz part 2 plays nicely with aluminium parts either.

So check the instructions for your flush kit and see what you need to do. If you prep your loop properly now then you won't need a flush in 6 months

Ah thanks mate. Really informative. Always good to get some advice from an experienced person. Been ordering stuff for last 2 weeks as seem to miss lil bits here and there. Apart from cpu water block the rest is still in boxes. Waiting on some 18mm extenders now

I read that for optimum performance to do it every 6-12 months. Is every 6 months overkill?

I should be good as gone for total Ek system apart from dye. There shouldn't be any aluminium coming into contact with the fluid at all.

LePhuronn · 19 Aug 2020 at 16:50

Marky Mark said:
I read that for optimum performance to do it every 6-12 months. Is every 6 months overkill?

To be honest if you prep the loop properly to begin with modern coolants and designed to run for extended periods of time. If you want to clean out every 6-12 months then there's no harm in it, but you can leave a perfect system running for a couple years now.

There are users who have plain copper blocks, distilled water with biocide and EK's ZMT rubber tube and had zero issues for years.

Toothy1911 · 19 Aug 2020 at 17:22

I recently flushed two new rads. I connected them to the tap with some 3D printed adapters and let them run through for about an hour each.
You guys think that's sufficient?

LePhuronn · 19 Aug 2020 at 17:24

Toothy1911 said:
You guys think that's sufficient?

Is there crap coming out of them? Some manufacturers are really good about cleaning their kit before sale, others don't seem to give 2 hoots. Flushing new rads is all about removing flux and whatnot left over from the build process; if there's no crap coming out when you flush then there's no crap to come out in the first place, job done

Toothy1911 · 19 Aug 2020 at 17:30

LePhuronn said:
Is there crap coming out of them? Some manufacturers are really good about cleaning their kit before sale, others don't seem to give 2 hoots. Flushing new rads is all about removing flux and whatnot left over from the build process; if there's no crap coming out when you flush then there's no crap to come out in the first place, job done

I didn't see anything but clean water. But it wasn't being cycled or filtered though to check, I just run it down the plug hole.
They're Black Ice rads, so good quality.

Marky Mark · 19 Aug 2020 at 20:43

Toothy1911 said:
I didn't see anything but clean water. But it wasn't being cycled or filtered though to check, I just run it down the plug hole.
They're Black Ice rads, so good quality.

There was a very very small amount out of mine. Like 10 or so tiny grains like sand in the filter after flushing both rads so I have to agree on they are very good flushing them out now. Some videos I watched was from 2017 and 2018 which had much larger amounts out of just one radiator.